dust & dirt

[GraceinMotion]

I searched for a discussion on this, but had no luck, so:
Those of you who spend a lot of time in the windy plains/desert, doesn't your dwelling get a lot of dust/dirt in it? How do you deal with it?

 

[highdesertranger]

" doesn't your dwelling get a lot of dust/dirt in it?"

hell yes. basically I live with it. once a week I give the bedding a shake out. if things are really bad I will take my blower and blow everything out and do a quick wipe down.

I will say this if anybody plans to stay in dusty areas you better be prepared to deal with dust. or any of the many environmental issue we need to deal with. highdesertranger

 

[rvwandering]

Yep, everything gets dusty. There's not much you can do about it. If it's cool enough we keep the windows closed when we drive on dirt roads.  At our campsite we keep the windows closed on the windy side.

 I can't stand the feeling of grit under my fingertips so everything gets wiped down often.

 

[QinReno]

Good question. Everywheres I've camped since buying my van has been full of endless dust. In one of his videos, Bob Wells talks about the evils of having carpet in an RV, as dirt gets tracked in continuously, especially by canine friends.

In my own situation, I've dealt with this in 5 ways (besides having no dog). 1. I have a carpet that's actually a 36"x72" doormat made of polypropylene and can be easily removed and washed. 2. By the entry side of the door mat, I have a strip of thick plastic sheeting, 18"x36", which can be easily swept clean. 3. on the initial step of the van, I have a piece of cloth, which takes most of the dust in the first place, and can be shaken out and also washed, and the step cleaned. 4. On entering the van, I also remove my shoes, so most of the dust never actually gets past #3 in the first place. 5. I also commonly put newspaper on #2 to keep that area even cleaner. A systems-level approach (obviously thought up by a retired engineer). The idea is to capture most of the dust at the outer levels so very little gets onto the inside carpet #1.

A lot of people I've noticed in the videos have a rug that goes on the "ground" near the door to their RVs to rub their shoes on to.

 

[waldenbound]

Just keep a whisk broom and sweep the rig out constantly.

 

[mspriusV]

I noticed and complained a bit about all the dust from our short stay in Joshua Tree park in my Prius v. I grew up on a dirt road, but the desert in Joshua Tree park on a calm, beautiful day still out dusted my old dirt road in the heart of the "city".

Those plastic, all weather mats are also for sale at Walmart as well as Camping World (pretty sure). Remember the bigger means the more to clean. If you get one of those rugs, then try to have the rv or vehicle blocking the direction that the wind is blowing from.

You should definitely not only have a broom, a set of glass cleaner free towels to clean windows, a water bottle for the vehicle for rinse of wiper blades and whatever else, and a portable camping shower for rinsing your dog and you off. After the second day, my small dog was so dusty, I remember getting creative by rinsing her off by the dog water fountain at a rest stop. To help her dry with drying her with a towel or dryer, I got her to so the "shaky shakes" via singing and dancing right along. She had just had her shower.

Where you are in the desert makes a huge difference.

Hth.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Dingfelder]

Even here in the PNW, I have to wipe everything down constantly, inside and out. Everything that's easy to overlook in or on the outside of a house is very easy to see in a home that's the size of a smallish single room.

 

[GraceinMotion]

Thanks everybody for the suggestions!

 

[A Savage Adventure]

I searched for a discussion on this, but had no luck, so:
Those of you who spend a lot of time in the windy plains/desert, doesn't your dwelling get a lot of dust/dirt in it? How do you deal with it?

Even in well-maintained RV parks, which I have spent a lot of time in lately, I am constantly tracking dirt and little stones into my RV. Then when I walk around barefoot they stick to my feet. Usually, every time I move my RV I mop it using a Swiffer Wet Mop just before I head down the road. But lately it has been raining a lot here and wet feet track more dirt than dry ones, unfortunately. Can't wait until I get near a desert! 

 

[jacks18614]

A plain and simple answer to eating dust, avoiding high winds, and not having the life sucked out of you on a consistent basis do to low humidity would be to limit your travels to the east coast where there are trees and turf that actually clean the air.

 

[vanman2300]

I'll take dust over humidity any time. Having lived in the east for most of my life I would rather throw a shovel full of dust in my vehicle then sweating constantly due to 90+% humidity.

Back to the subject. I simply follow many of the common sense tactics as previously mentioned.  I also keep something handy to wipe down my vehicle interior when I have nothing else to do.

 

[B and C]

I take my shoes off before entering and pound the dust off of them before they are allowed inside where they are kept by the door. I also use my hands to help get some of the dust off my clothes. This keeps the dust inside down alot. Other than that, it only takes about 15 minutes for a quick dust and mop in my small space.

 

[DannyB1954]

I am a part timer. My house is in a desert region. I thought carpet was a bad idea so I put in tile in several rooms. The result was I can't see the dust in the room left with carpet, but it is very obvious in the tiled rooms. So if you would rather vacuum once a week instead of mop every day, Carpet isn't so bad.

I tried air purifiers, but still see the dust on the furniture. On windy days I open the doors and use an electric leaf blower. It stirs up the dust in places I normally can't get to with a damp rag. The wind blowing through the house removes more dust than it brings in.

For my van build I went with padded carpet for several reasons. I spend time on my knees, (as I have a low top van). I don't want to wear knee pads when digging through my storage areas. My old knees don't like hard floors. I also have a dog that I don't want sliding around if she is on the floor when I apply brakes. On cold days the carpet feels much better than a hard floor. (even with insulation under the floor).

 

[vanman2300]

The dog comment just struck a funny bone on me. I can picture Rufus sliding toward the dog house of the van with eyes widening...

 

[Matildas mate]

Here’s something on my “maybe” list of things i may purchase once i get my van and get ready to go on the road. It doesn’t solve the problem but looks like it may keep your bare feet from getting full of sand and dust when getting out of bed.

Sand, Dirt & Dust disappear – CGEAR SAND-FREE MAT

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003NAVLZ...olid=3AJHRE3NR6SLR&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

 

[bonvanroulez]

For my van build I went with padded carpet for several reasons. I spend time on my knees, (as I have a low top van). I don't want to wear knee pads when digging through my storage areas.  My old knees don't like hard floors. 

I have really bad knees and a low-top van, and I highly recommend a gardeners kneeling pad. I bought one at Walmart for $5 and it's a real knee-saver. It stows easily near the side door of the van and it becomes an automatic movement to place it before i kneel inside the van.



On-topic, I also have carpet on my van floor, and using my kneeling pad, I regularly sweep it out with a brush. When I see a car wash with vacs I will vac it out, including vacuuming the bedding.

I also buy big packages of wet-wipes and besides cleaning myself, I use them often for wiping down dusty surfaces.

 

[bethiebugs]

Just to chime in here, I still live in an apartment near a highway as I’m doing my van build, and the amount of dust this place accumulates is incredible! If I were to attempt to keep the dust out, it would be a daily to multiple-times-a-day struggle! So I can imagine that living in my van full time would be at least this amount of work...so I have become accepting of the dust and dirt as a normal part of living anywhere. Unless I i want to spend all my time keeping it at bay as I used to!

 

[Almost There]

^^^

That's too simple an answer - in the pine forests including in the east, I track pine needles in instead of desert sand. In Georgia and Alabama you'll track red clay mud in.

It doesn't really matter where one stays, the small environment of a van or an RV means that the same amount of dirt, etc. that would normally be spread throughout a larger home is still tracked in. It just looks like it's more because of the small footprint of the home.

There is no avoiding it. it's called housework....

Edit: well whatever was above my post isn't now...it was something about living in the east so that you could avoid the desert sand!!

 

[bullfrog]

If you think dust is bad wait till you stay someplace infested with "goat heads" !!!

 

[A Savage Adventure]

If you think dust is bad wait till you stay someplace infested with "goat heads" !!!

Wait...WHAT?!?  :huh: